IndyCar released its international poll in January, asking fans to share their opinions on the series and its future direction.
The survey was completed by more than 53,000 people from 147 countries, and the results are now published by Penske Entertainment.
Most respondents – 56% by percentage – came from the US, but France, the UK, Japan and Canada made it into the top five.
In terms of composition, 37% were under the age of 35, and in terms of gender composition, women were represented in 12.2%.
According to Motorsport Network, which provided a platform for the project, the latter rate attracted the second-highest female interest in their research ever.
80% of respondents say IndyCart is best characterized by the word “competitive”.
The terms “exciting,” “growing,” “dangerous,” and “fun” were also topped.
The majority of fans prefer watching the races live mainly on TV. In addition, most of them use TV and streaming platform at the same time.
In between the rounds, social media garnered the most popular source of information among those under the age of 35.
In sports it turns out that 48% of the fans themselves are regular players. Unsurprisingly, this percentage is highest among 16-24 year olds at around 85%. Players in the 25-34 age group make up 70%.
The site’s in-person viewing of tournaments attracts more than 80% of fans, and 50% have visited at least one tour in the past five years.
However, the biggest deterrent in this area is access to jobs, especially for those who live outside North America.
From an environmental point of view, making the sport “greener” was also important by those under the age of 35.
Fans will love the variety of race venues (built tracks, streets and ovals) because they just show the talent of the pilots.
Overall, fans say IndyCar has a more balanced and healthy image in terms of sporting and recreational value than it did three years ago.
The Indianapolis 500, Long Beach, Road America, Laguna Seca and Saint Petersburg were highlighted as the top five races.
Other conclusions:
- Fans want to see more suppliers in this series.
- The Indy 500 double points are good and will be maintained in the future.
- They will minimize the interference of the hosts “to allow the pilots to compete as freely as possible”.
- In the budget space, intense and close competition is a priority rather than a technical innovation.
- There is strong opposition to changing the format of the races and little support for changing qualifications.
- Most fans under the age of 24 have one favorite contestant.
- Penske is the most popular team, with 19% of the vote. They are followed by Arrow McLaren SP and Andretti Autosport with 17-17%.
- Roman Grosjean was named the most popular pilot, receiving 12% of the vote. And 32% of fans put it in the top 3 favourites.
- Pato Award became the second most popular runner. In addition, AMSP’s young Mexican became number one among women.
- Helio Castroneves finished third in the popularity vote ahead of Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi.
- The latter is the first California to close among Americans.
“Driving a race car is like spinning a chainsaw” – Cal Yarborough
